((I guess I should explain the process a little more through portraying and writing Leo's experience first, though my character would've waited till he gained the courage through everyone's first acts.))

When it was Leo's turn, he peered through the googles reluctantly. He turned around to a small ghostly figure in the bushes. Frightened, Leo pushed his legs with all his might to walk closer. The ghostly image rustled through the bushes like a gentle breeze, revealing itself. It was a Bulbasaur.

Leo, unable to speak, kept walking slower toward it, as the Bulbasaur did the same. There was an almost deeply powerful connection flowing towards each of them, pulling them together like magnets. When the Bulbasaur was at his feet, Leo crouched down, placing his hand on the Bulbasaur's head. It was warm. Suddenly, the Bulbasaur's memories suddenly began flowing and entering Leo's mind.

<insert flashback of pokemon's life and it's death here/>

Leo's eyes forced open. Panting deeply with sweat pouring from his face. He calmed, ready to speak his thoughts, "...I'll never forgive Elemental... but you lived happily... and you protected your friends till the end... and you were always there with me, by my side, ever since I passed through the ruins of Pallet Town... Thank you, Bulbasaur..." Leo smiled warmly at the pokemon, embracing him in a cuddle. The Bulbasaur cried happily as it soon started to fade. It's aura filled Leo, something only he could feel and see. Leo's body flashed the small Bubasaur's aura as the Bulbasaur's last cry echoed Leo's heart.

The Cube within the group flashed a bright blue as Leo morphed into Bulbasaur, a bulb forming as he met the earth on all fours.

Leo turned in his new pokemon transformation, nodding happily in reassurance that he was okay.

I watched Leo curiously as he underwent his transformation, then spoke once I finished my reversion to human form, patiently waiting for my turn with the Scope. "I know we have a total of up to six morphs, five left for most of us since we've already got one. I assume we should wait to master the second form before we try again for a third?"

Leo returned to his human form, fully confident he could tranform into either a Pikachu or a Bulbasaur if he willed it. That was his feelng. He turned to Cassie, handing whoever wanted to be the next to meet their guardians, the scope.

"Well, I assume so. It's not like I have any experience with this either. But there's not a second pokemon waiting after Bulbasaur... And what I saw of all your pokemon through the scope, there weren't others waiting... Our second pokemon have that strong a bond between us, I think... It blocked any other spirits from connecting to us through our travels... I think, there's a good chance, that we'll all stumble upon another pokemon, one after the other... As soon as you've master the second pokemon's abilities, let's all gather around like this again and meet those pokemon." Leo's hands shook. He managed to calm himself down, clutching his right arm. Leo was a little worried, but he tried to show that it didn't effect him in the least. He looked to the fire, "...I'd say, that if there was a chance there were as many pokemon as we could transform into, following me for example; if I tried to connect to them all at once, or one after the other in such a small amount of time... It'd probably crush my spirit, send me mad and crazy...and probably end up killing me in the process..."

"So yeah," Leo chuckled to Cassie, "It'd probably be for the best we master what forms we have before accepting another spirit."

Leo again chuckled, but to himself. He swayed a little bit, throwing his arms behind his head. He must have sounded like a professor or something. He was pretty impressed with himself, smiling a little.

"Gotcha." I took the Scope from Leo, hiding my nervousness with nonchalance, and lifted the goggles to my eyes, freezing a little as I spotted a six-foot-plus Pokemon shape standing patiently by the trees, starting to approach as it realized I could now see it.

"Hi..." I whispered as I reached out, the Pokemon giving me a toothy, feral smile and extending a foreclaw to touch my hand--

--hiding in a stone den, guarding the eggs till the two-leggers came, Mate falling to the Tyranitar's jaws, the two-leggers pointing the killing black sticks at me/us--

--a young one, staring at flames, swearing revenge--

I broke the contact, looking at the big Pokemon in understanding. "You wanted revenge too." It growled gently in answer-- I reached out, resting my hand atop the head. "I promise we'll get back at them. For my family and yours."

The blue-scaled Pokemon let out a soft roar of agreement, lowering its head to allow me to rest my hand on its head, the scales oddly soft beneath my palm. I inhaled, taking a lungful of the scent of sand and stone-- then the Pokemon began to fade away into nothingness, as the Cube flashed blue and I felt my body begin to shift and rearrange. This time, my head became more shark-like, mouth filling with sharp fangs, as a shorter tail sprouted, a dorsal fin growing from my back as elongated fin-blades grew from my forelimbs...

I opened my eyes, looked down at myself, and blinked. "Garchomp." I growled out, turning to face the others and swinging one fin-blade experimentally.

<What is it with my soul and dragons? Granted Charizard isn't a proper Dragon type, but still...>

((So this is how we'll acquire new morphs! Good idea Crunchy!))

I woke up from my deep slumber to find the rest of the group wide awake.  They were all gathered around Leo, who was apparently explaining something about some high-tech glasses.  The "Silph Scope," he explained, allowed you to see the spirits of deceased Pokemon that had a strong emotional bond with us and acted as our "protectors." 

Leo gave it a go, and then transformed into a little Bulbasaur.  Then, Cat tried on the Scope, and morphed into a gigantic Garchomp.  I had never seen one in person, but I'd read books about them before.  They really were every bit as menacing as they said!  But still, seems like someone must like dragons.

Still not entirely sure what to expect, I picked the Silph Scope up off the ground, since it had fallen off during Cat's transformation.  "Time for me to give it a go," I said.  Cautiously putting the scope over my eyes, I didn't seem to see anything unusual, until a eerily white Pokemon floated down from up above.  I didn't recognize it, but like the others had supposedly done, placed my hand on it's wide, brimmed head.  The story of its life rushed into my head--

--living in secret, manipulating the minds of those who saw it to think they never did--

--finally captured that night by the strange life forms--

--and then dissected alive on a table in that little, brightly lit room--

I lifted my hand off if it's hand, shuddering at the grotesque last bit of memory of the Pokemon.  But it was certainly a mysterious Pokemon.  Manipulating others' minds?  And it had been captured by Team Elemental, and then... you know.  I rested my hand on it one more time, then watched as it's aura silently flowed into my body and it faded away.  I noticed the Cube flash, around Axel's neck, then felt the changes begin.  My skull grew long, and I felt my brain enlarge to fit the newly sized cranium.  My skin turned a light shade of brown, and I grew some sort of long coat around me.  Four button-like knobs appeared on the jacket, and a collar grew around my neck.  I shrunk down to a much smaller size, and my hands grew round and three colored spheres appeared on their tips.  Finally, my eyes grew small and were surrounded by what looked like green goggles.  It was complete.  I realized what I was now.  I had become a Beeheeyem.  It was a Pokemon that was only rumored to exist.  There were many shows about searches to discover their existence, but no conclusive evidence had been found.

I floated up to the others, and sent them a message. <This new form is really cool! It's a Beeheeyem, the Cerebral Pokemon.  It was rumored to come from space. It can also manipulate people's minds.>

((Crunchy, I'm Axel. Porgyon is Seth. Anyways, we don't have to acquire all our forms this way; if a Pokemon comes up that you want to acquire with the method that Bill described, you still can. But there's not that many wild Pokemon, so this might actually be better.))

I watched Leo, Cat, and Jeremiah transform. This was.. a little freaky. Ghosts following us around. I had never really had a belief in the supernatural; what Pokemon could accomplish was enough for me, even though I didn't see them that often. But Pokemon that had had terrible deaths, needing us to free them... If it was true, it was the least I could do.

I took the scope from Jeremiah. Putting it on, I first noticed the golden auras surrounding every person in the group. Weird... I turned around. There, perched in a tree, was a tan and brown bird. It had a red and gold plume cascading down its back. A Pidgeot. It cried out, spreading its wings. Images flashed through my mind.

-flying high, looking for something to eat-

-a nest, filled with young ones and a mate-

-the young ones, being taken away, fightingfightingfighting, kill the intruders-

-a two-leg coming up and running a spear through my chest-

I looked at the Pidgeot again, my eyes swimming with tears. I had recognized what the humans were wearing; of course it would be Elemental. Of course. And I spoke two words. "I'm sorry." The words choked out of me. There was no atonement for what my species had done; nevermind that it was a single group, and not the whole that had committed these atrocities. The wild Pokemon saw them, and us - there was little differentiation.

Raising my hand up to the Pokemon, it touched its beak to my palm, tears running down. "I'm sorry, and I will try my best to make this right. I swear." It closed its eyes, fading into a peace so profound, that I teared up all over again. And I began to morph, feathers sprouting from my body...

((sorry about that. I fixed it just after you gave me notice of it lol.))

"Well, I'm glad none of them went berserk. To be honest..." Leo clutched at his arm again, "I think I almost hit my limit..." he said, whispering quietly to himself. He chuckled to himself lightly.

Leo smiled smugly, "Very impressive, Axel," he said, walking up to the now transformed Pidgeot. Walking alongside him, Leo gathered the Silph Scope from around the bird's neck. He held it in front of Axel's beak, smiling at him as he waved it around as he spoke, "I'll hold on to this for the meantime. Insurance, so you guys can't double-cross me or anything," he lifted the strap above his head and put it on. He safely tucked it away behind his shirt.

Leo looked back to Axel the Pidgeot, and then to the rest of the gang who had morphed into pretty strong pokemon. Cassie had morphed into a Garchomp, as Jeremy had morphed into a Beeheeyem. They were all pretty impressive, but would they be able to control their new forms so easily? He wondered.

Leo yawned, stretching as he walked off towards the campfire. He was thinking of morphing into his Pikachu form and cuddling up next the fire when he suddenly realised something, "...Oh," he stopped, turning to the others, "I have a request, since I have to tag along with you now. When we do eventually head to Johto, we're going straight to Ilex Forest. It's the forest south of Goldenrod City. Have you heard of it?" it wasn't really a question, but he went straight to the point, "Anyway, I've got some business there. Don't ask..." he turned back around, his green bandana following him, "Anyway, night!"

((Sorry I haven't posted in a while guys, had some things to do.))

After fleeing the battlefield, we all met up at a small campsite. Leo used this pair of goggles to see "Pokemon Guardians" that were watching over us. Leo, Axel, and Cat used the goggles until I asked for a try. I held the goggles up to my face, then heard a flap of ghostly wings. I looked up and saw the Ghost of a Noctowl. It flew down in front of me and nodded its head. It wanted me to do something. I remembered that Bill said we can get new forms of Pokemon if you place your hand on them. I put my hand on Noctowl's forehead. It closed its eyes and showed me memories of its entire life, from the day it was born to the day it died. I felt myself acquire its wisdom, skills, and thoughts. I knew that I could now transform into Noctowl. I thanked it for its knowledge and moved the goggles from my face.

OOC: Guys, don't forget to update your morphs on your profile, like I did. Crunchy, what we've been doing is editing our profiles to include the gender, species, and 5 moves that each of our morphs have. It's easier to keep track of that way. So, I'mma go and do that now... (sorry to anyone who already did it, lol).

((Oh, haha I almost forgot ))

((Already done.))

<I have no reason to double-cross you, Leo.> I told the boy calmly. <I don't play that kind of games with allies. Elemental's another story.>

Inside my mind, it was far from calm-- the Garchomp was looking at the Pidgeot as if it was food, while the Charizard mind was growling at what it felt was a competitor in its own territory-- and I was trying my hardest to keep them both under control.

<Just curious, do you guys feel the Pokemon's instincts strongly? Might be because I've got two dragons, they're both so strong-willed that they're giving me a headache...>

I yawned mentally. <With the Mightyena one, I feel severe aggression and violence build up inside me. But this one.. Pidgeot has such a proud air that it's actually quite amusing. I just know that I can outfly everything in the sky. Speaking of which...> I sprang up into the air, opening my wings wide. <Here I go...>

As I flapped my wings, I steadily grew higher and gained speed. Soon enough, I was turning circles and loops at 75 miles per hour in the air above the camp. It was such an exhilirating feeling; to feel the air between the shafts, and to be able to see the curve of the earth... Nothing compared to flying.

As I flew, I thought about why Leo wanted to go to Ilex. From what I'd heard, it was a forest to rival the Virdian Forest; full of bugs and basic Pokemon. Of course, there was also that shrine to some time traveling Pokemon, but that was probably just the result of a myth. Hmm... Leo knew something that he wasn't letting on about. I wasn't sure what, but hopefully he would deign to tell us.

Eventually, I grew hungry, and had to land. I settled down near the fire, then morphed back into human form. "That... was so freaking awesome. Words cannot describe.." I stared up at the sky, wondering when I would be able to do it again.

((Gotcha, Rex. Lol, I mixed up another name again. Geez, I've been stuffing up a bit on this lately. Sorry for that. I'm just trying to get used to all of this again. It's been too long haha.))

Leo was already a Pikachu, curled up into a ball as he sat quietly by the warmth of the fire. He overheard everyone's experiences with all their morphed natures... it was to be expected. Leo knew all there was to know about almost each and every pokemon thanks to Elder Oak's teachings... The Pikachu and Bulbasaur natures, when they were still living peacefully in the wild, were almost harmless and friendly in nature. Leo's characteristics were the only real thing that stood out when he morphed. Strong, evolved pokemon like the others had stronger instincts, he thought. Hopefully, those natures wouldn't get in the way of their human consciousness' when it all came down to it... Anyway, that was always another thing to master, as well as their pokemon abilities and techniques.

<Axel...> Leo spoke tiredly, <Since everyone seems to be able to fly around now... You wouldn't mind if I... rode on your back... would you...? Zzzz.> Leo snored a little, falling asleep.

((Lol no problem, man. All of us were messing up at the beginning as well; i had to ask redt for names like five times before i got them down >_>; . Also, whenever redt and Shina log back on, they can tell us what they picked for their second morphs; but we can move on without them, if necessary.))

Night had fallen once again. We all needed our rest; we had a long journey ahead, and what had already happened previously was exhausting. I wasn't sure if we would be able to keep up the pace of traveling for two days, then resting for two; this seemed like it wouldn't work, but it would have to do for now.

Just as everyone was starting to settle down, Leo asked if he could ride on my back. <Sure, man, no...> I yawned profusely. <...no problem, man. Pidgeot is more than strong enough.> I stretched my arms, then went off to a deep sleep...

A forest. Green all around, but the colors are subdued. It's nighttime, and you can hear the sounds of the nightlife all around me. I walk forward a ways, down a path. I come to a clearing, and there's a golden ball of light, floating in the middle of the ring of trees. Leaning forward, I reach my hand out to touch it; my hand passes right through, but it feels the warmth of the light anyway.

Suddenly, there is a voice, in my head. "When you come to this clearing, you will know the answers to your questions. About your mother, about Elemental, and most of all, about yourself." I shake my head in confusion. "Where is this place? How will I know? No, wait--" The ball begins to shrink, and starts to fly away. I cry out - I need to know more, and it won't stop leaving.

Suddenly, the light blinks out, and it is dark again. But not for long. The forest is now ablaze, lit up like a firework launched from a holiday of the past. All around me, Pokemon flee the scene; they bound, sprint, and fly away. I look on in horror; there is no way out. I start running as well, trying to morph into something, anything; but it doesn't work. I can't find my way out. And I feel the smoke entering my lungs, making me choke, making my eyes water. It's too late, and I stumble, and fall...

I wake up in a sweat. All around me, the forest is dark. Everyone else is asleep. The fire's gone out; I stretch, then go over and get it going again. Then I sit until dawn, contemplating my dream.

((So let me double check: Were going to Ilex Forest next?))

A few minutes after stretching out and relaxing, I fell asleep. I felt a Pokemon's instincts take over...

It was like I woke up, but my body felt different. I stretched out my arms, and realized they were wings. Noctowl must not be asleep, and he must've let me take control of his form. I knew it was just my soul controlling Noctowl, because I looked over and saw my sleeping body. I flew up above the trees, and looked back from where we came from. I glided in that direction, and in a surprisingly short time of about 30 seconds, I found the remains of Bill's house. Almost completely destroyed. I flew back to the campsite, but kept going in the direction we were supposed to be traveling. In about 10 minutes, I found a path that looked like it lead out of the Kanto Region. It was about 1,000 feet from the ruins of Indigo Plateau. I thought about the stories Dad told me, about the Elite Four and the Kanto Champion residing there, taking challengers every day. After memorizing the path out of the Region, I flew back to campsite, thanked the Noctowl for letting me use it's form, and then it transfered me back to my own sleeping body...

((Virdian Forest next's, actually. But yeah, Ilex Forest is almost right on the top of the list (for Leo anyway), so it was useful to see the ways out beforehand. Plus we have those people to meet in Johto, right? Good use I've Noctowl's nocturnal trait, Poly.))

Leo yawned, stretching his little yellow body out on the ground. Thankfully, while morphed into the Pikachu, his thoughts were only of berries, apples and other fruit of the like. He scratched his belly, rolling himself up. It was morning. Axel was up, but none of the others. Well, who knew? Leo thought he heard a Noctowl hoot a few hours ago... These people were getting stranger and stranger. He stared at Axel for a minute. He wondered why he was up, or for how long...

<Axel...> the Pikachu poked his arm, <I'm hungry... Can you go fetch me some food...?> he said, rubbing the sleep from his tiny eyes.

((I might be away a little on the weekend (tomorrow). Feel free to make sure Leo's pikachu morph jumps onto Axel's pidgeot's back during travels, if the roleplay moves on far enough.))

I yawned, stretching myself, somewhat disappointed to find myself in a human body as I woke. My dreams had been Charizard dreams of flight and flame...

Looking around, I found Axel and Leo awake, and snagged an apple off a tree branch as I approached them. "Good morning."

Leo turned to Sarah as she approached, red hair and all, <Morning, Sis. Did you sleep w--> he uttered. His vision coming back to him. It wasn't Sarah at all, it was Cassie. Leo frowned, trying to avoid her eye contact. They sorta looked similar, that's all...

Leo returned to his human form, walking towards the foliage off camp, "Nevermind, Axel. I'm capable..." he disappeared into the forest to find his own food.

((I won't be on much during the weekends, like always, so mild NPCing would be appreciated.))

I frowned as Leo walked off, storing his words away for later, stretching my neck and wincing as it popped, taking another bite of my apple. "Where do we go next?"

I woke up early in the morning to find the sun filtering in through the trees.  It seemed pretty peaceful, actually.  I must have fallen asleep without knowing it last night while I was still a Beeheeyem, I guess.  I had just been so exhausted by the day's events!

Axel and Cassie had woken and were sitting by the fire, and Leo was skulking off into the woods.  Gesturing towards Leo, I said, "Looks like someone got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, huh?" Still a little bit groggy, I grabbed a crisp apple off of the tree the others were eating from, and took a bite out of it, letting the juices run through my mouth.  I hadn't eaten anything for a while, so it tasted even better than it probably was.  When I was finished, I threw the core into the fire.  "Best not to leave any trace," I said.

Must go to the water!  Ugh, the Kabutops instinct again.  It kept craving somewhere to swim, and it was making me crazy.  "If it's okay guys, I'm going to go look for a lake or pond or something before we leave." I asked.  "The Kabutops in me is going to explode if it doesn't swim soon."

I looked at Cassie. "Well, Leo wants to go to Ilex forest. Bill needed us to go to Johto and make contact with some people. So we need to make our way to Viridian, cross over the Tohjo falls, then head out from there."

Looking into the fire, I continued. "Where exactly in Johto beats me. I guess since Leo has a specific destination, we should shoot for there. Bill only said Johto; he didn't name a place or someone we should find. I guess he just kind of trusted that we'd be able to find our way to some resistance group or something." I shrugged. "Well, we better get moving. As soon as Leo and Jeremiah return, we'll move out. As is we've been here too long."

The sun was coming up, so I put out the fire, then walked over to those that were still asleep and nudged them awake.

((school started for me today, so things are probably going to REALLY slow down. As long as everyone can make one post every two days each, we should be fine, though.))

After leaving the camp, I searched around a bit for a place to swim.  After a good fifteen minutes of hiking, I came across a vast, glistening lake, shining from the reflection of the rising sun.

I began my transformation into a Kabutops, and felt as scythes replaced my arms, a tail sprouted from my back, a set of gills emerged on my ne- I stopped.  A rustling sound came from the reeds beside me.  I tensed up, ready for a fight.  As I held my breath, a Ratatta dashed out from its hiding place and scampered into the woods.  Just a Ratatta, I thought to myself.  No need to panic.

But then I caught my reflection in the water.  I hadn't finished transforming, and I still had some human aspects left, namely my head and torso.  I was only halfway Pokemon.  This is pretty cool, I thought.  So we don't always have to morph all the way, we could also stop in the middle as well.  I'll have to remember that.  

I dove into the water, deciding to swim as I was.  It was awesome.  I could breathe underwater thanks to the Kabutops gills, and everything looked crystal clear.  I folded up my scythes against my body and propelled myself through the water using my powerful tail.  I darted through the murky lake bottom, weaving in and out of patches of weeds.  This was by far the coolest thing that I had ever done in my entire life.  It began to dawn on me just how incredible this ability we had was.  We could fly, breathe underwater.  We could even breathe fire, for crying out loud!

Once I had swam enough to satisfy the Kabutops in me, I shot out of the water and landed on the shore, giving a couple of Pidgey heart attacks.  I slowly morphed back, becoming my boring old self again, and made my way back to the camp.  Steel and Vincent had woken up while I was gone, and it seemed like we were getting ready to move out.  There was no sign of Leo, however.  "Leo's still off pouting in the forest, I presume?" I asked the others.

((School for me starts September 8th, but I can still find some time to post. We had to get IPad 2s for high school this year, and that's what I've been doing most of my posting on. So I'll be good!))

((Wow tt, iPad 2's for High School? Nice. And yeah, I'm starting school on the 8th too, I believe. Now, let's wake up Seth...))

I was awake to hear most of Cat, Axel, and Jeremy's talking. When I woke up, I just closed my eyes and relaxed, figuring this was going to be the last time for a while I was actually going to be able to relax. I heard Axel say we should get moving. Haha, he actually thinks I'm still asleep. I felt Axel nudge me, and acted as I was being woken up. I stood up and said, "Hey, g'morning." I grabbed and apple off a tree and took a bite like the others did. I turned away from the others and smiled. Let's have a little fun with this information they don't think I know yet. I turned back around and said, "Ok, let's get on the road to Viridian. Hopefully Jeremy doesn't take to long swimming and Leo comes back from the woods soon." I put on a little smirk and waited for their reactions.

((Haha. I pranked you guys. ))

Huh. Maybe he was listening. Weird... "Right, yeah, exactly." I smiled a little, then went back to the now-put out fire. I started to morph into Pidgeot.

<Alright, guys, we really need to get on the road. I think we should meet at the north entrance to Viridian Forest. All of us should be able to make it within a day, so...>

((ack, bad post. I think we might want to wait until LadyMiir and some of the others come back. It can't just be me, Pory, and tt posting with this many people in the group.))

I nodded as I stood up, reaching for the dragons in my mind and starting to morph. "It sounds g--" My words turned into a deep grumble as my vocal chords rearranged themselves, and I tried again once the Garchomp form was completed.

<It sounds good to me, I meant. Garchomp is incredibly fast, quicker than Charizard even, so I'll be using him. North end of Viridian it is.>

Careful of my wingblades, I made my way into the trees, then started running-- and swiftly found out that the stories about Garchomps "flying" were not exaggerations.

This morph -was- fast.